Ambassador Max Baucus Addresses 2015 UM Commencement [YouTube]

Montana's former U.S. Senator and now Ambassador to China, Max Baucus, addressed nearly 3,000 students, families and friends at the 2015 University of Montana Commencement in Washington Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, May 16.

On a day when rain was expected, the students listened to Montana's longest-serving Senator as he spoke about "four choices that have made all the difference in my life", he began.

"Four choices that helped me go from a ranch north of Helena, to the United States senate, and now to China as ambassador," Baucus said. "Choice number one, don't stay on the ranch, learn to be true to yourself, and don't try to live someone else's life. The second choice is to embrace change and never turn away from a challenge. The third choice, stick to your path and don't give up, and the fourth choice is taking care of your neighbors."

Ambassador Baucus spoke of his boyhood on the ranch that gave him the strength to run for Congress, to walk across Montana in his run for the U.S. Senate, and to eventually accept the appointment by President Obama to become the U.S. Ambassador to China.

He encouraged the students to learn from each other and help each other, and to learn to live through the various blizzards of life, the loss of a loved one, or of a job, and to pick up and begin again. To listen to the voice inside your head and follow your dreams.